Nearly $16 million in grants has just been awarded through the USDA Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Loan and Grant program. The funding will provide equipment that will go to rural hospitals, clinics, schools, libraries and provide technical assistance for telemedicine and distance learning.
The average for grant awards to health facilities ranged from $74,000 to $500,000 with the average award from $200,000 to $300,000. The awards went to health consortiums medical centers, foundations, community health and hospitals, and to a health science center.
The funding will generally be used to purchase video teleconferencing equipment systems, devices, digital electronics and software, in-home patient monitors, medication dispensers, screening monitors, telemedical carts and related equipment, iPads, and video-enabling software.
The awards involving healthcare and medical services went to Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium ($114,842), Flagstaff Medical Center ($129,412), Norton Healthcare Foundation ($259,607), Community Health & Counseling Services ($103,235), Ozarks Medical Center ($274,638), Harrison County Community Hospital ($500,000), Mercy Health (4382,748), University of Mississippi Medical Center ($378,360), Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital ($498,356 & $500,000), Hampton Regional Medical Center ($249,162), Kadlec Regional Medical Center ($329,269), Davis Memorial Hospital ($74,189), KVC Health Systems ($330,695), Citizens Memorial Hospital District ($175,989), Kalispell Regional Medical Center ($363,326), and to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center ($500,000).
For more information, go to www.rurdev.usda.gov/Home.html.